Padlock



Sept. 6, 1966 a. P. JUNKUNC PADLOCK' 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed 001;. 26, 1964 INVENTOR. George BY 1% ah ATTORNEYS United States Patent Office Patented Sept. 6, 1966 3,270,534 PADLOCK George P. Junkunc, Palos Heights, 111., assignor to Junkunc Bros. American Lock Co., Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Filed Oct. 26, 1964, Ser. No. 406,360 Claims. (CI. 7025) This invention relates to improvements in padlocks and more particularly relates to such padlocks in which the shackle may be released by operation of permutation mechanism.

In padlocks of the type in which the shackle is released to accommodate opening of a padlock by the operation of permutation mechanism, it has been common practice to upset at least one of the permutation tumblers to retain the latch bolt in a latching position, after its release therefrom. This has been done by a pawl on the long leg of the shackle, engaging one of the permutation tumblers. When the tumbler has been upset, it stays in this position until moved by the dial knob into position to permit unlocking of the padlock. In setting the permutation mechanism to open the padlock, however, after the lock has been opened, the dial knob is frequently left in its last position of turning movement and thereby designates the last number of the padlock combination.

Since the padlock cases must be relatively small, usually only three tumble-rs are contained within the padlock casing and when the unlatching position of one tumbler is evident by the number at which the dial knob has stopped, it is a relatively simple matter for anyone having a knowledge of combination locks to determine the first two numbers of the combination and open the lock.

My invention has as its principal objects to remedy the foregoing deficiencies in combination padlocks by providing a mechanism for spinning the dial knob past the last number of the combination, as the shackle of the padlock is moved into a closed position to lock the lock.

Another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved padlock in which a novel arrangement of upsetter pawls is associated with the tumblers of the permutation mechanism, one of which upsets at least one tumbler as the shackle is moved outwardly to an open position and the other of which spins the dial knob off the last number of the combination as the shackle is moved inwardly into a closed position.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved form of permutation padlock having pawl means on the long leg of the shackle within the casing, and guide means for the shackle, in which the guide means resets the latch housing as the shackle is moved outwardly from the casing of the padlock to its open position, and one pawl means upsets at least one tumbler to hold the latch housing in position to latchingly engage the shackle as the shackle is moved into the housing, and the other pawl means is effective to spin the dial off the last number of the combination as the shackle is moved into its locked position.

These and other objects of the invention will appear from time to time as the following specification proceeds and with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a front view of a padlock constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a view looking at the opposite side of the padlock from its dial knob with the end plate of the casing removed and certain parts broken away in order to show the shackle in its released position, and one of the tumblers in an upset position;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary exploded view of the padlock with the casing broken away and the shackle and latch bolt housing removed in order to illustrate certain principles of the invention;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary detail partial sectional view taken substantially along line IV-IV of FIGURE 3 with certain other parts removed; and

FIGURE 5 is a detail view looking at the upsetter pawls and support therefor from the outer end portion thereof.

In FIGURES I and 2 of the drawings, I have shown a padlock 10 in its locked and open positions. The padlock includes a lock casing 11 of a generally cylindrical form having a front plate 12 having a dial knob 13 and dial 15 mounted thereon for turning movement with respect thereto to move the tumblers of the padlock to their release positions, as will hereinafter more clearly appear as the specification proceeds.

The casing 10 has a shackle 16 slidably and pivotally mounted therein and having a long leg 17 slidably extending within the lock casing 10 through a cylindrical wall 18 thereof. The shackle 16 also has a short leg 19 having a notch 20 formed therein near its free end. The notch 20 is engaged by a spring pressed latch bolt 21 slidably carried in a rockable latch casing 23.

. The long leg 17 of the shackle 16 extends between spaced cars 22 extending from the latch casing 23 and has a reduced diameter inner end 25 having a guide plate 26 mounted thereon. The shackle is pivotally mounted on the latch plate 25 to accommodate the shackle to be pivoted about its long leg to one side or the other of the lock casing as the shackle is opened. The guide plate 26 has guiding engagement with a guide 27 formed in an inner casing plate 28 for the padlock, and is also guided at its opposite end in a similar guide 29 formed in an inner plate 32 spaced inwardly of the front plate 11' of the padlock.

The latch bolt 21, as shown in FIGURE 2, has rectangular lugs 30 extending laterally from opposite sides thereof, slidably guided in slots 31 formed in opposite side plates 33 of the latch bolt casing 23. The latch bolt casing 23 is pivotally mounted between the plates 111 and 28 on a .pivot pin 35, riveted or otherwise secured to the front plate 11 at one end and supported on the plate 28 at its opposite end. A torsion spring 37 extends about the pin 35 and engages a stationary abutment 39 at one end and extends through an apertured portion (not shown) of the latch bolt 21 .at its opposite end, to bias the latch bolt 21 in its extended position into engagement with the notch 20 in the short leg 19 of the shackle 15.

The side plates 33 of the latch bolt casing 23 are spaced apart by a spacer plate 40* and are riveted or otherwise secured thereto. The spacer plate 40 has a downwardly turned portion terminating into a tongue 43 and engageable with aligned slots 44 in tumbler disks 45, 46 and 47 rotatably mounted on a tumbler post 48. When the tumbler disks are upset, with the slots 44 out of registry with each other, the outer peripheries of said tumbler disks engaged by the end of the tongue 43 will retain the casing 2 3 in position and prevent opening of the padlock.

The permutation tumbler disks 45, 46 and 47, rotatably mounted on the tumbler post 48, are pressed into engagement with each other by a compression spring 63 abutting the inner side of the inner plate 28 at one end and a tumbler spacer 64 at its opposite end, having abutting engagement with the tumbler 45, commonly termed the top tumbler and frictionally restraining said tumbler from rotation. The top tumbler 45 has a spacer collar 65 like the spacer collar 64 projecting from its face opposite the spacer collar 64, and engaging an end face of an intermediate tumbler disk 46. The intermediate tumbler disk 46 has a spacer collar 66 engageable with an end face of the outer or bottom tumbler 47.

The bottom tumbler 47, as herein shown, has a sleeve 67 secured to and extending outwardly therefrom. The

sleeve 67 extends through the plate 2-8 and the front plate 12 and has the dial 15 and dial knob 13 secured to its outer end, for turning said sleeve and the tumbler 47 upon turning movement of the dial knob 13. The bottom or driving tumbler 47 has the usual transfer pin 71 extending inwardly therefrom for engagement with a transfer pin 73 projecting from the intermediate tumbler 46. The intermediate tumbler 46 also has a transfer pin 74 projecting from the opposite face thereof from the transfer pin 73 for engagement with the transfer .pin 75 projecting inwardly from the inner or top tumbler 45.

Thus, in order to open the padlock the dial knob 13 is turned to successive predetermined positions to rotate the tumblers 47, 46 and 45 to bring the slots 44 thereof into registry and in position to admit the tongue 43 of the rockable latch bolt housing 23 to pass inwardly along said slots and accommodate release of the shackle 16 by outward pulling movement thereon.

Referring now to the mechanism for upsetting the tumbler 45 upon release of the short leg 19 of the shackle 15 from the latch bolt 21, and for resetting the latch bolt housing 23, to accommodate the locking of the shackle as the short le-g thereof is inserted within the casing an angle bracket 76 is riveted or otherwise secured to the lower end of the long leg 17 of the shackle 16 beneath and in abutting engagement with the guide plate 26. The angle bracket 76 has tangs 78 engaging the guide slots 27 and 29 and restrained from turning movement by said guide slots. The angle bracket 76 also has a depending leg 77 extending parallel to the axis of the tumbler post 48 and facing the peripheries of the tumblers 45, 46 and 47. The depending leg 77 has a pawl support 79 mounted thereon for angular movement with respect thereto about an axis extending tranversely of the longitudinal axis of the leg 17 of the shackle 16. The pawl support 79 is generally U-shaped in plan and has parallel spaced legs 80 and 81 extending therefrom toward the tumblers 45, 46 and 47. The pawl support 79 is loosely mounted on a pin 82 riveted or otherwise secured to the vertical leg 77 of the bracket 76 and extending outwardly therefrom in a direction away from the tumbler 45. The pin 82 has a head 83 on its outer end forming a seat for a compression spring 84 encircling the pin 82 and seated at its end opposite the head 83 on the pawl support 79. The spring 84 thus presses the pawl support 79 into engagement with the outer face of the vertical leg 77. V

The leg 80 of the pawl support 79 extends through a slot 79a in the leg 77, along the outer side of the top tumbler disk 45 and has a pawl 85 formed integrally with the outer end portion thereof engageable with an upsetting pin 87, extending outwardly from the outer face of the top tumbler 45, as the shackle 16 is withdrawn from the casing 10 and the tongue 43 moves out of the aligned slots 44 as the shackle is released.

The upsetter pin 87 is in alignment with and above the sloping face of the pawl 85 when the slots 44 are aligned. Thus, as the shackle is Withdrawn from the casing 10 and the tongue 43 is moved out of the aligned slots 44 of the tumblers 45, 46 and 47, the inclined face of the pawl 85 will come into engagement with the upsetter pin 87 and yield as it presses the slot 44 of the tumbler 45 into engagement with the tongue 43. Upon continued out- Ward movement of the shackle, the guide plate 26 will come into engagement with the cars 24 to withdraw the tongue 43 from the slots 44 into the position shown in FIGURE 2. As the latch housing 23 is reset and the tongue 43 is removed from the slots 44, the spring 84 will press the pawl support 79 into engagement with the leg 77 and pivot the tumbler 45 in a clockwise direction and move the slot 44 out of registry with the tongue 43.

The leg 81 of the pawl support 79 is shorter than the leg 80 and has a knob spinning pawl 88 in registry with notches 89 formed in the periphery of the tumbler disk 47. The length of the knob spinning pawl 88 is such that as the shackle is moved outwardly and the upsetting pawl is in the position shown in FIGURE 4 to upset the slot 44 of the tumbler disk 45, the dial spinning pawl 88 will clear the notched periphery of the bottom pawl 47 as shown in FIGURE 4 and will be engaged with the periphcry of said tumbler by the bias of the spring 84 as the notch 44 is moved out of registry with the tongue 43. As, however, the shackle 16 is moving inwardly to its latched position, the spring 84 biasing the knob spinning pawl 88 into engagement with the notched periphery of the bottom tumbler disk 47, the panel 88 will spin said tumbler disk and the dial 15 away from the last combination number.

It may thus be seen that a simplified and improved permutation operated padlock has been provided in which the top tumbler disk is upset during outward movement of the long leg of the shackle and the bottom tumbler disk is spun during inward movement of the long leg of the shackle to lock the lock, and that spinning of the lower tumbler disk effects spinning of the dial knob 13 and dial 15 to move the dial past the indicator on the padlock casing, indicating the last number of the combination.

While I have herein shown and described one form in which the invention may be embodied, it may readily be understood that various variations and modifications in the invention may be attained without departing from the spirit and scope of the novel concepts thereof.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a padlock, a casing, a shackle having parallel legs of unequal length, and guided for movement with respect to said casing on the long leg thereof, a latching notch on the short leg of said shackle, a rockable latch bolt housing rockingly mounted within said casing and having a latch bolt slidably mounted therein for engage ment with said latching notch, permutation mechanism comprising a plurality of rotatable tumbler disks, a tongue projecting from said latch bolt housing for engagement with the peripheries of said disks to maintain the latch bolt housing in a latching position, slots in said disks opening to the peripheries thereof for receiving said tongue and accommodating release movement of said latch bolt housing, a dial knob and dial on the outside of said casing for turning one of said disks and effecting the successive turning of the other of said disks to align the slots therein to receive said tongue and accommodate the opening of the padlock, an upsetterpawl on the long leg of the shackle engageable with one of said disks upon outward movement of the shackle to misalign said slots and hold said latch bolt casing in operative latching position, and a spinning pawl yieldably mounted on the long leg of the shackle and positioned by the upsetter pawl as the tumbler disk engaged by said upsetter pawl is upset and the shackle is moved to its outer position to engage the disk having the dial knob secured thereto for spinning the dial knob and dial off the last number of the combination as said shackle is moved within the casing to lock the padlock.

2. The structure of claim 1,

wherein an angle bracket is mounted on said shackle adjacent the lower end thereof and has a vertical leg, wherein a pawl support of generally U-shaped form is movably mounted on said vertical leg,

wherein a spring biases said U-shaped pawl support into engagement with said vertical leg,

wherein one tumbler disk has an upsetter pin extending axially outwardly therefrom,

wherein one leg of said pawl support has the upsetter pawl formed thereon and extending under said pin when said shackle is in its retracted position and engaged with said pin upon outward movement of said shackle, and angularly moved by said pin in a direction away from the associated tumbler disk as the short leg of the shackle is withdrawn from the casing, wherein the spinning pawl is formed on the other leg of the U-shaped pawl support in alignment with the tumbler disk turned by said dial knob and dial and moved away from said last mentioned tumbler disk upon angular movement of said pawl support against said spring upon outward movement of the shackle and upsetting of said tumbler disks,

and wherein said pawl support is moved by said spring to engage the spinning pawl with the tumbler disk turned by the dial knob and dial upon movement of the shackle within the casing to lock the padlock, to spin said tumbler disk turned by the dial knob and dial and spin the dial knob and dial off the last number of the combination.

3. A padlock comprising, in combination,

a casing,

a shackle having parallel legs of unequal length,

the longer of said legs being slidable and pivotally mounted within said casing,

a latch bolt having locking engagement with the shorter leg of said shackle for locking said shackle in said casing,

a permutation mechanism within said casing comprising a plurality of coaxial tumbler disks rotatably mounted within said casing,

each disk having a radial slot therein, which when aligned accommodates the release of said latch bolt and the withdrawal of the short leg of the shackle from said casing,

a dial and knob connected with one tumbler disk for turning said disk and effecting the successive turning of said other tumbler disks,

an upsetter pawl and a spinning pawl mounted on the long leg of the shackle,

said upsetter pawl being associated with one of said tumbler disks and turning said tumbler disk upon outward movement of the shackle for misaligning the notch in said tumbler disk with the notches in said other tumbler disks, and

said spinning pawl being associated with the tumbler disk turned by said dial and knob and engaging said tumbler disk turned by said dial and knob upon inwand movement of the shackle and spinning said tumbler disk and thereby spinning the dial off the last number of the combination, as the padlock is locked.

4. The structure of claim 3,

wherein an angle bracket is mounted on the long leg of the shackle adjacent the lower end thereof and has a vertical leg extending parallel to the long leg of the shackle and facing said tumbler disks and guided for rectilinear movement with respect to said disks,

wherein a pawl support is movably mounted on said vertical leg of said angle bracket for angular movement with respect thereto toward and from said tumbler disks,

wherein the upsetter pawl and the spinning pawl are movably mounted on said pawl support,

wherein spring means bias said pawl support to maintain said pawls in position to engage the upsetter pawl with one tumbler disk to upset said disk in one direction of movement of said shackle and to engage the spinning pawl with the tumbler disk turned by the dial knob to spin the dial 01f the last number of the combination in an opposite direction of movement of said shackle.

5. The structure of claim 4,

wherein the upsetter pawl is longer than the spinning pawl and extends along one side of one tumbler disk and the shorter spinning pawl extends toward the periphery of the tumbler disk turned by the knob and dial,

wherein the longer pawl pivots its associated tumbler disk upon outward movement of the shackle and moves away from said tumbler disk against said spring to withdraw the shorter upsetter pawl from the periphery of the tumbler disk turned by the dial and knob,

and wherein the spring means extends said pawls to effect the engagement of the shorter spinning pawl with the periphery of its associated tumbler disk and spinning of the knob and dial off the last number of the combination upon inward movement of the shackle.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,137,967 11/ 1938 Stone -25 2,245,741 6/ 1941 Winning 70-25 2,926,514 3/1960 Junkunc 70--21 BOBBY R. GAY, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A PADLOCK, A CASING, A SHACKLE HAVING PARALLEL LEGS OF UNEQUAL LENGTH, AND GUIDED FOR MOVEMENT WITH RESPECT TO SAID CASING ON THE LONG LEG THEREOF, A LATCHING NOTCH ON THE SHORT LEG OF SAID SHACKLE, A ROCKABLE LATCH BOLT HOUSING ROCKINGLY MOUNTED WITHIN SAID CASING AND HAVING A LATCH BOLT SLIDABLY MOUNTED THEREIN FOR ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID LATCHING NOTCH, PERMUTATION MECHANISM COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF ROTATABLE TUMBLER DISKS, A TONGUE PROJECTING FROM SAID LATCH BOLT HOUSING FOR ENGAGEMENT WITH THE PERIPHERIES OF SAID DISKS TO MAINTAIN THE LATCH BOLT HOUSING IN A LATCHING POSITION, SLOTS IN SAID DISKS OPENING TO THE PERIPHERIES THEREOF FOR RECEIVING SAID TONGUE AND ACCOMMODATING RELEASE MOVEMENT OF SAID LATCH BOLT HOUSING, A DIAL KNOB AND DIAL ON THE OUTSIDE OF SAID CASING FOR TURNING ONE OF SAID DISKS AND EFFECTING THE SUCCESSIVE TURNING OF THE OTHER OF SAID DISKS TO ALIGN THE SLOTS THEREIN TO RECEIVE SAID TONGUE AND ACCOMMODATE THE OPENING OF THE PADLOCK, AN UPSETTER PAWL ON THE LONG LEG OF THE SHACKLE ENGAGEABLE WITH ONE OF SAID DISKS UPON OUTWARD MOVEMENT OF THE SHACKLE TO MISALIGN SAID SLOTS AND HOLD SAID LATCH BOLT CASING IN OPERATIVE LATCHING POSITION, AND A SPINNING PAWL YIELDABLY MOUNTED ON THE LONG LEG OF THE SHACKLE AND POSITIONED BY THE UPSETTER PAWL AS THE TUMBLER DISK ENGAGED BY SAID UPSETTER PAWL IS UPSET AND THE SHACKLE IS MOVED TO ITS OUTER POSITION TO ENGAGE THE DISK HAVING THE DIAL KNOB SECURED THERETO FOR SPINNING THE DIAL KNOB AND DIAL OFF THE LAST NUMBER OF THE COMBINATION AS SAID SHACKLE IS MOVED WITHIN THE CASING TO LOCK THE PADLOCK. 